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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919717">Who You Are</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyndakip/pseuds/cyndakip'>cyndakip</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rescue Team [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team &amp; Blue Rescue Team, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Gender Identity, Gender Issues, Nonbinary Character, Questioning, pride month</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 04:55:54</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,361</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24919717</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyndakip/pseuds/cyndakip</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Being turned into a Pokemon is a confusing mystery. So is gender.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Partner Pokemon &amp; Player Character (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon), Partner Pokemon/Player Character (Pokemon Mystery Dungeon)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rescue Team [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1802089</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>32</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Who You Are</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is a bonus chapter of <i>Where You Belong</i>, although no context is needed to read it! Written for the <a href="https://nuzlockeforums.com/forum/index.php?threads/pride-2020-create-a-thon.19517/">2020 Pride Month Create-a-thon</a> on the Nuzlocke Forums (which you should absolutely go check out, because a bunch of people have posted great stuff there)! This is something I wanted to incorporate into the main story but ultimately decided I just didn't have anywhere to fit it in without messing up the fast pace of everything else. So instead it's its own little thing! Takes place roughly around the beginning of Part 4.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It's strange, but you don't miss being a human as much as you thought you would.<br/>
<br/>
Everything’s so much easier as a Pokemon. No one to tell you how you should look, what you should wear, how you should think. You're a Mudkip now, and all you have to do is be a Mudkip! You never thought life could be more comfortable as a four-legged fish thing, but in many ways, it is.<br/>
<br/>
You also never thought Pokemon society would be so... different. Gender doesn't seem to be a big deal here. There are male and female Pokemon, of course, but there are more than you could have ever imagined who don't fit neatly into those categories. <em>They </em>seems to be the default here unless otherwise specified, and while no one's had the chance to call you much of anything yet, would you want to specify if the opportunity arises?<br/>
<br/>
When you introduced yourself to Cynders, you never got much further than <em>I'm Cassie, and I'm a human.</em> In a world full of Pokemon, being a former human tends to overshadow anything else you might say about yourself upon meeting someone. Not to mention that you both got rather distracted by having to rescue Caterpie, and the topic of gender and pronouns just never really came up after that.<br/>
<br/>
Some part of you is relieved that you've never had to tell anyone here you're a girl. Because, well, you're no longer really sure that you <em>are</em>. You don't remember much about your human life, but you get the feeling that you weren't so sure about it back then, either. There's a strange kind of nervous excitement that fizzes in your chest every time you think about what you might do if someone asked you… what if you said you weren't a girl? Could you do that? Well, of course you could, but <em>would</em> you?<br/>
<br/>
Cassie is a girl's name in your world, but in this one it's not a name at all, or at least it wasn't until you showed up. No one here has any preconceived notions about what a Cassie should be, and you think that maybe, just maybe, the Pokemon here don’t look at you and automatically think <em>girl,</em> but you're afraid to ask.<br/>
<br/>
You don't even want to ask Cynders, even though you know they'll understand -- Cynders, who will answer to pretty much anything, stocking up on pronouns the way you stock up on berries for the team toolbox. Cynders, who is your partner and most trusted friend. You have so many opportunities to say<em> hey, did you know I’m not a girl?</em> and you never take them.<br/>
<br/>
You have so many opportunities to say so many things, and you never take them.<br/>
<br/>
It's a client who changes everything. You’re not the most talkative person -- Pokemon -- around, and you don't spend much time with anyone but Cynders, so you never really hear <em>any</em> pronouns being used for you. But today, you've just finished up a rescue, and Cynders is chattering away with the bedraggled Poochyena you've saved and the Rattata who asked you to save him, and...<br/>
<br/>
<em>You should have seen the move Cassie used!</em> the Poochyena recounts to his friend. <em>Right when we were about to escape the cave, this huge Pokemon jumped out at me, and I thought I was a goner for sure! But then Cassie did this cool flip off the rocks to get in front of me, and they sprayed it with this huge blast of water, and it was so awesome!</em><br/>
<br/>
They?<br/>
<br/>
They. They is you. <em>You’re</em> they.<br/>
<br/>
You feel a sudden giddy rush of excitement, a warm glow of happiness that, for once, has nothing to do with being called cool. It's a strange new sensation, hesitant but thrilling, like you're standing on the edge of a cliff and feel like you might actually be able to fly off it instead of fall.<br/>
<br/>
Cynders looks at you, and you realize you might be grinning a little too much. <em>Yes, I'm lucky to have them as my partner</em>, the Cyndaquil says with a knowing smile.<br/>
<br/>
You should have known better than to think you could keep something like that from Cynders. They're too perceptive, or maybe you're just too easy to read -- probably a bit of both, if you're being honest, but whatever the situation is, you start to think that maybe you really can be something <em>other</em>. Not-a-girl. They. Nonbinary. You're not sure if that's a word that exists in this world, but could it be the right word for you?<br/>
<br/>
Cynders asks you about it, later, when you're staring out at the ocean in quiet contemplation. (Well, externally quiet. Your brain is very much a loud mess at the moment.)<br/>
<br/>
<em>Things are a bit different in your world, aren't they?</em><br/>
<br/>
You nod. Here might be less complicated, but in some ways that makes it <em>more</em> complicated for you. Your world had hair and clothes and makeup, all these little things about your appearance you had to constantly adjust in the hopes that they might make you look how you feel. That maybe, just maybe, you could make others see you how you want to be seen, if you could even figure out what that was.<br/>
<br/>
Here, those options don’t really exist, and that's probably why this world's view on gender is so different. In some ways it's a relief to have all those choices taken away from you, but what did it leave you in return? You weren't too attached to your old body, but you definitely never wanted to be a Mudkip, either, and as much as you like it, it's not what you envisioned for yourself. But if it's allowing you to be seen for who you think you might really be, isn't that worth it?<br/>
<br/>
...But what if you turn out to be wrong about all this, and find that you don't like it after all, that it isn’t who you are? What if you tell it to everyone and then have to un-tell it later as they all frown at you disapprovingly for changing your mind? What if you’re really just a girl? What if you’re a <em>boy</em>? You don't think you are, and you don't want to be, but what if you're just afraid to realize it? What if you can't be happy as <em>anything</em>? What if, what if, what if...<br/>
<br/>
As usual, you don't say any of those things, but Cynders gets the idea. <em>It's not easy to figure this stuff out, I know, </em>they say.<em> But I can help you with it as much as I can! You can tell me anything.</em> Your partner pauses, grinning.<em> And I can tell everyone about my awesome teammate Cassie, and how much I enjoy going on rescues with <b>them</b>, and how nice <b>they</b> are, and how proud I am of all <b>their</b> accomplishments! If that's what you want, of course.</em><br/>
<br/>
You're smiling again, feeling those words sparkling in your chest. Your time in this world so far has mostly been spent learning how to take risks and be spontaneous, so... why not?<br/>
<br/>
Deep breath. <em>I think... I think that<b> is </b>what I want. For now, at least. And maybe... you could call me Cass? Just sometimes?</em> You're not ready to let go of the name you're used to yet, but you like the sound of the nickname, and you don't remember many people calling you that back home.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Of course, Cass!</em> Cynders beams. There seems to be a smile stuck on your face, too.<br/>
<br/>
<em>Thanks, Cynders.<br/>
<br/>
Anytime.</em><br/>
<br/>
As the two of you sit on the cliff and watch the sun sink into the sea together, you think you've never felt more at home in this world. There's still so much you don't know -- how and why were you brought here, what's causing all these natural disasters, and, of course, who do you want to be... the answers never come easily, but that last question, at least, now feels a bit less intimidating.<br/>
<br/>
In this moment, you're happy to be you, even if you’re still figuring out what it means to be <em>you</em> along the way.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Was this just an excuse to dump all my own gender feels somewhere? Maybe :P</p></blockquote></div></div>
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